


Lie with me

by Rowena_Campbell



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who: Virgin New Adventures - Various Authors
Genre: Doctor Who: Academy Era, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Sad with a Happy Ending, Touching, Young timelords
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-04 03:39:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11546727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rowena_Campbell/pseuds/Rowena_Campbell
Summary: This is about where they start, where they stand and where they fall. Two timelords, a friendship longer than many civilizations...Oh and I think I created a better ending for them.





	1. Where we start

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my second work about the Doctor and the Master's deep friendship. It seems to be a long work for the moment and I'm still keep working on it.  
> Basically the idea was formed after watching S10E12, which is almost heartbreaking. I keep thinking about omg they CAN'T die like that! Cold, solitary and desperate. I sincerely hope they could be with each other till the end of universe.  
> And I strongly recommend these songs XD

> _ 'You taught me the courage of stars before you left. _
> 
> _ How light carries on endlessly, even after death. _
> 
> _ With shortness of breath, you explained the infinite. _
> 
> _ How rare and beautiful it is to even exist.' _
> 
> _ <Saturn>Sleeping at Last_

"Thus, talking about cosmic science we assume that..." The professor was about to finish his tedious course with a few conclusions. And the class, as always, was filled by unbroken silence. Most of them were just seven or eight years old pupils, but they were already learning unbearable complicated and interminable theories about time and space. In fact, they were just ordinary children with a little bit of gifts and talents, and lucky to be chosen.

Suddenly, a skinny boy rose up.

"Wrong! _Ridiculously wrong!_ " He screamed out, threw his things away and rushed out through the door. His scarlet robe flapped swiftly behind him, leaving a whole classroom with astonishment.

Theta Sigma was thinking about ways to play truant. He has never been a good boy, especially after the farce which lures him even more. He wandered around in the Academy, finding nowhere to go. It is not his mind leads the body, but the sense. He drifted aimlessly, until he finally reached a vast pasture of red grass. They seem to be stretching all along the slopes of the mountain, but then he spotted a slim figure sitting in the grass.

 

"Hello." He greeted, but the boy seemed to be immersed in his own thoughts.

"Why are you here?" He asked carefully.

"It's my place. My father's estate." The boy finally looked up and said in a calm voice.

"No I mean...why did you run away from school?"

"Those rubbish they're pouring into our heads at the Academy count for nothing."He shrugged absently.

“Yeah, absolutely. They have no sense of adventure.” Theta Sigma nodded approvingly, staring straight into the deep dark eyes of the boy. “Unlike us.” He added, and sat down with him.

“Unlike us.” The boy whispered with a gentle smile, just like the warm breeze of a Gallifreyan night.

Suddenly the boy grasped Theta’s hand, tangling up into his. "Come on, then. We still have a long way to go."

"But where are we going?"

"To somewhere thrilling, treacherous, distinctive - somewhere no one has ever been." His voice echoed in the whisper of wind, hovering above the boundless grasslands surging like a sea.

...And they were chasing each other. Running through the vast land, moving along the slopes of Mountain Perdition.

The soft breeze tossed their hair, kissed their skin whilst the dew-covered grass pricked their bare feet.

Two pure souls swirled around, attracting each other and yet not getting too close - as if they were combining with each other, creating connections, becoming one...

Till one of the binary stars fell, and not before long the other one came out. Till the sky was covered by velvet dark decorated with dazzling stars. Till the infinite end of time.

Till they finally lie down together beneath the warm shinning vault.

Koschei threw his arm around Theta. They tangled and tumbled and rolled together, hearing the rustling of grass and leaves.

And they finally stopped, lying there thoroughly exhausted. Koschei’s hearts pounded violently as he pressed his head against Theta’s. He could feel the warmth of his body and the wet breath hot upon his cheek.

The four drumbeats was growing louder and louder in his mind and chest.

"Look at those stars. See how beautiful they are. See how they shine and burn. Someday we’re going to explore them all." Theta said in a soft voice.

"Will you come with me then?" He asked dreamily, staring into those beautiful clear eyes with all the sparkling stars mirroring in them.

"Surely I will." Koschei answered with a smile of satisfaction. "I will follow you **_everywhere_** , to every corner of the universe."

"Every star in the universe, and we’re going to see them all. Having the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space..."

"Will you always be with me?" Koschei suddenly turned around and asked seriously.

"Yes. **_Always_.** " Theta replied with an reassuring smile.

Under the velvet dark of the Gallifreyan night sky, the two young timelords were holding each other, falling deep into asleep.


	2. Seek My Soul

> _The light moves in your eyes_
> 
> _Reflecting more truth than speech_
> 
> _I miss you in so many ways_
> 
> _Frames of distant memories_
> 
> _I linger on your last words_
> 
> _It feels like your're already gone_
> 
> _I fall into oceans of angst_
> 
> _And can't shut my eyes for fear of drowning_
> 
> _ <Nostalgic> Lander Configurations_

Koschei felt like falling.

Surrounded by the deep, dark, dense air. Into an unknown abyss.

And the drumming in his head was almost killing him.

Or sinking...overwhelmed...

Drowning...

Then some flashbacks slipped into his mind, which came from a remote past and were merely some vague memories like a moldy film.

But he could clearly feel it as if they were no longer illusions but reality.

He was sitting in the dark - perhaps in his dormitory - and deep in thought.

_"Among all the timelords you've met, why does it have to be me?"_ He asked abruptly.

_"Well because you're always so brilliant! Because you're so fast and unique and charming..."_ Theta blurted out.

He sat there silently for a while, and finally said in a flat voice, _"Because I have no friends and that that makes you feel bad. That's all."_

_"No of course not."_ Theta grinned childishly, _"And you've got me! Listen, I know it's always hard to be a genius like you. But that isn't your fault and I want you to know that you're just like me. Some day we'll leave this planet and travel around the whole universe! And together we could be beautiful...Remember, being different is not your fault and I'll always stand with you."_

But Theta's voice faded out.

And suddenly he felt steady again. All those illusions faded away expect the drumbeats.

They were even growing louder. And they were real.

But at least he knew it was just another nightmare in those endless eternal dark nights. Without starlight, without wind, even without an rambunctious companion.

And he did not even know where he was. It has been years or even centuries since he left Gallifrey - the place which holds and preserves all his memories. Together with a few precious possessions, some part of his soul and perhaps one of his hearts which he had lost a long time a go.

Time doesn’t mend everything. It flushes through trying to water down but only make things mingled, and even timelords cannot fix it.

That was how the Deca fell.

The Doctor steal a Tardis and fled away from Gallifrey, seeking his own fortune.

Koschei, who then still cling to stay on Gallifrey for many centuries and finally went for his own journey.

And no one knows why. Perhaps he was too attached to this land, or according to some saying he was waiting for someone. But the only thing certain was that he left with an empty soul and would never come back.

All the years he had been drifting along the time and galaxies like a ghost - and a doom bringer. He would set on fire and watch the flame rage on. He would explode a whole planet and hear the despairing scream echos all around him. He would gaze as planets and stars burn down, enchanted by the splendor as they mirrored in his perfect amber eyes, without any words.

Those clear bright eyes once with sagacity, passion and mischief of a brilliant child.

And no one ever knows why.


	3. His Last Vow

> _‘I was still running from all of my mistakes_
> 
> _Cut to the fallout_
> 
> _I traced my lies to the coast_
> 
> _All I could find was your ghost…‘_
> 
> _ <Homegrown> Haux_

 

It was at that very moment that the Doctor – blunt and stubborn as ever – asked the Masters for help, begging them poignantly.

Twilight was falling. The land was enveloped in the dim bluish light, hazed by mists. Above them, the caesious dome was punctured by a pale streak of light, casting its last rays.

And the Doctor was following his daily routine as usual, saving alien races, fighting back super-villains and righting wrongs.

But this time it was different.

The Doctor was dying. He knew that he was dying for he could feel his strength and consciousness draining away from his body…for he could hear the restless murmurs emerge from his deepest mind, which is a herald of passing away. And yet he was still surprised that he could linger on for such a long time after a few fatal shots.

No one knows how to cope with death better than Time Lords. Death was more like a natural process for them - they die and regenerate into a new body, like a man awaking from a deep sleep…

Or a nightmare…

But the Doctor still felt like dying. Just like any other dying man, he could clearly sense the horror of fading away…losing his last strength and consciousness…all the things he had experienced would become dust of the past and a vague memory that stores in someone else’s mind, being part of someone else’s story…

How strange. The memories of his previous incarnations started to flood in as if they had grown their own consciousness, emerging from deep within him and putting up their deathbed struggle…

Memories of eleven strangers. Eleven dying men. Their murmurs mingled chaotically, dragging him down…

‘You shall not fear death,’ the Doctor soliloquized, ‘For everything comes to an end.’

‘The end of a beginning and a beginning of the end.’ He added, ‘An eternal cycle. It’s time to meet your oldest acquaintance.’

But still there’s one thing he cannot let go.

He hadn’t saved his people yet…They needed him. He was their only hope.

Their only saviour…

 

But he did not stand a chance.

 

‘ _Whatever you’ve got, Doctor, you can’t save them._ ’ A voice whispered in his ears, ‘ _The Cybermen will always find them._ ’

But no… **They don’t understand. And they will never understand.** Even if he’s dying, even if he doesn’t stand a single chance, the Doctor will never ever give up. He will fight till the end of time.

For the sole purpose of goodness which had always been his faith.

 

And the Doctor turned to his oldest foe.

_Friend inside the enemy and the enemy inside friend._

‘I’m going to be dead in a few hours so before I go, let’s have this out. You and me, once and for all.’ The Doctor pleaded desperately, trying to block their way.

‘I’m not trying to win, I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone It’s not because it’s fun and God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not because it works, because it hardly ever does! I do what I do because it’s right! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind…’The Doctor was delivering his last touching speech, hopefully making an attempt to trigger a shred of conscience buried deep within their heart.

But they just stared at him blankly, apparently being unimpressed of his sermon.

After all, they were different inside. And the Doctor’s morality had always been hard to accept – or even incomprehensible - for them. Even the Doctor himself sometimes gets confused too. Is it his natural instinct to save people at all costs or due to some unknown reasons that moulded him into his present self? We are all reflections of our own pasts. There are neither pure evil nor pure kindness, and there must be a reason for doing so. Perhaps out of guilt, and all these years he has been trying to remedy something, unintentionally undo the damage he had caused.  

But what for? He couldn’t get a faintest clue.

‘Maybe there’s no point in any of this at all. But it’s the best I can do, so I’m going to do it. And I’ll stand here doing it till it kills me.’ He said in a firm voice, and then suddenly pointed to them respectively, threatening, ‘You’re going to die, too. Some day. How would that be? Have you thought about it?’

‘What would you die for…’The Doctor hissed, ‘Why not, just at the end, just be kind.’

The Master shrugged impatiently and strode away. Only Missy was standing still, her face left unreadable and clouded with different emotions.

‘Missy, I know you have changed.’ The Doctor was almost begging her, like a drowning man clutching at the last straw. ‘Stand with me, it’s all I ever wanted.’

‘Me too.’ Missy smiled a bitter smile with tears glittering in her eyes. At that very moment he thought she was going to help him, standing with him like they used to be.

Holding on to each other no matter what confronts them.

‘But…’Missy took a deep breath. ‘No.’She smiled apologetically and gave him a meaningful look, then turned and marched away without a backward glance.

Gazing at her receding figure, the Doctor was finally disillusioned.

 ‘Help me, Doctor, no matter where you are.’ A soft young voice came into his mind. ‘Please, Doctor, I’m so scared, so lost…find me and succor me…you are my only hope.’

‘Help us,’ another voice chorused, ‘We’ve been abandoned for so long…forgotten with your painful past…’

‘Tsk-tsk, ’ an icy female voice tutted, ‘Seems like you’re too busy to remember. Open your eyes, Doctor, and see how many people you’ve betrayed, how much blood is on your hand…’

> _‘You’ve got the blood on your hands, I know it’s my own._
> 
> _You came at me in the middle of the night to show me my soul._
> 
> _Of all the people, I hoped it’d be you._
> 
> _To came and free me, take me away._
> 
> _To show me my home.’_
> 
> _ <Blue Blood> Foals_

 


	4. Retrace Our Past

> _‘There would be birdsong over the flooded beach_
> 
> _We would be daylight over the shipwreck sands’_
> 
> _ <A Song For Starlit Beaches> Yndi Halda_

 

The Doctor’s eyes snapped open. Nothing had changed, though, and those restless voices still echoed in his mind, whispering into his ears…

‘Help me, Doctor, you’re my last hope…’

‘You’ve forgotten us…left us to die…’

‘See what you’ve done, Doctor, and face your final…’ The voices faded out.

Now he could clearly see the Cybermen were getting closer and closer, marching toward him. He raised his sonic screwdriver instinctively, but before he could react a blast of warmth ran through his body, and suddenly everything went black.

There was a deathly silence that almost took an eternity.

The Doctor slowly opened his eyes. After experiencing what should be death, the Doctor was quite surprised to find he was still wearing his 12th body, yet no longer in the wasteland of a spacecraft.

He was lying amidst a vast rose garden, with its breeze gently rustling through the flowers.

_Flowers that are scented with memory. Perfumes that recalled things long gone or echoed memories yet to come._

‘Doctor, it’s nice to see you again.’ A sweet young voice came from above. The Doctor looked up and found two children sitting side by side in a tree, holding each other’s hands. The young girl leant her head sweetly on the older boy’s shoulder, their burgundy robe flapping in the wind.

‘I wonder if you still remember us’ The girl continued, smiling gently at the Doctor.

‘Oh surely he does.’ The boy chuckled, ‘Don’t you, my dear Doctor? We miss you terribly.’

‘I…’The Doctor hesitated with a lump in his throat.

‘Are you still wandering around the universe, fighting back villains?’ Asked the girl.

‘Yes I do – most of the time.’ Replied the Doctor.

‘That’s our Doctor.’ the girl nodded approvingly, ‘Our brave, adventurous Doctor, always so brilliant, full of crazy ideas…I desperately long for adventures, all those wonders that could shake the entire Time Lord society…’

She was still dreaming an adventurer’s dream even though that had cost her so much.

‘Oh Doctor, couldn’t believe you’re already a Time Lord now.’ said the boy dreamily, ‘Tell me, which incarnation are you in? You seem much older than me now…’

‘I’m on my 12th body.’ Answered the Doctor.

‘Really?’ the boy gasped and reached out a hand, trying to pat the Doctor’s shoulder. But his hand went straight through his body like a shadow. ‘That’s marvelous. Hard to imagine what I’d be like on my 12th body…’

A pang of guilt and sorrow suddenly stroke him. ‘Rallon, Millennia, I…I’m sorry. I really appreciate your sacrifice, and it was all due to my fault…I shouldn’t have put you into danger…I should have come and save you earlier…Rallon, you were already a Time Lord then; Millennia, there’s a whole world awaiting you…you could have achieved so much more… ‘The Doctor was choking with emotion.

‘Oh no, Doctor, stop blaming yourself. There’s nothing you can do, and you’ve already tried your best.’ Reassured Rallon with a gentle smile, ‘Besides, now we’ve gone to a better place. Free from sorrow and pain…Free from boundaries and restrictions…Free from all the heavy burdens …

‘Yes, Doctor’, agreed Millennia. ‘We can’t bear to see you suffering anymore, hurting yourself again and again. You’ve taken too much upon yourself…’The Doctor noticed that a tiny tear was trickling down her face. ‘You’ve grown.’ She finally whispered, and the Doctor was surprised to find his eyes also hazed over with tears. ‘You don’t owe the universe, Doctor, so why not just let go and get what you deserve.’ Added Rallon, ‘Still couldn’t believe you’re over 2,000 years old now. You must have experienced so much things, and so much woe…’

‘And so many vicissitudes of life, Doctor, bidding farewell to your beloved ones…You must be awfully lonely.’ Sympathized Millennia.

‘Stay with us, Doctor, it’s time to settle down and find permanent peace. We can be together like we used to aeons ago in the Academy. It would be a nice reunion with your own people, the last Time Lords…’Rallon pleaded sincerely, his voice was so convincing and tempting.

‘And your dear Koschei will come to join us soon,’ smiled Millennia, ‘Stay with us, Thete, and we can be together…forever.’ They chorused, both reaching out a hand seemingly to embrace him. The sky was tinted with a changing hue of pink and orange, and the setting sun was casting its last ray upon their burgundy robes, rendering them glow with a faint halo. For a moment, the Doctor thought he was wearing the same body he had when he first encountered them. Young and childish, much shorter than Rallon which almost made him look like his younger brother. And that familiar burgundy robe which reminded him of Gallifrey’s ochre sky and pastures of red grass… He was amazed to find how much he actually missed them, and how delighted he was to meet his old friends, seeing them healthy and smiling, as innocent as they had been before the Toymaker took away their lives centuries earlier.

He stood and hesitated for a while, then held up his arms and marched toward the two glowing figures…

But his head was hurting badly. The voices still haunted him.

‘Help me, Doctor, save me before it’s all too late… You are my last hope…’ The voice was still young and desperate -even more plaintive- but this time he sensed more familiarity.

The Doctor knew subconsciously that something was terribly wrong, but that thought slipped away easily as he looked into the clear and bright eyes of Rallon and Millennia, and their beckoning smiles…  

‘You promised, Doctor…’The voice was urging him in dismay. The sea of memories was surging violently in his mind, surfacing thousands of forgotten pasts. He screamed mutely, trying his best to fight back, and the whole realm started to shimmer and dissolve. The Doctor gazed in horror as Rallon and Millennia’s images started to fall apart, dissolving into thin air. They were still smiling, holding their hands outstretched, welcoming. ‘Goodbye, Doctor.’ Millennia mouthed silently, tears cascading down her face. He ran instinctively towards them and reached up, and for a moment he thought he caught Millennia’s hand.

But there was nothing. He was standing amidst the vacuum, shrouded by pure nothingness.

And the whole place was ringing with an icy female voice.

‘Think it over, Doctor, before you make your final choice. To linger on with burden and guilt, or to be with them happily ever after – and also my permanent companion.

‘Oh, and you wouldn’t forget my poor servant, would you? It was **you** who betrayed him, abandoned him to me and left him to die…He trusted you so much…’

‘And you’re no better than him, my decent caring Doctor,’ scoffed the voice, ‘think about how many races have been wiped out because of you…and how many innocent people have been implicated…just because of your oh-so-heroic character and your self-righteous morality…’


End file.
